Report: Former Alexandria mayoral candidate under investigation in town murders

Charles C. Severance, 53, was arrested in West Virginia on a gun charge. Investigators are looking to see if Severance is connected to unsolved killings in his former town of Alexandria. Police released a sketch last month of a man seen at the latest shooting.

A former Alexandria mayoral candidate is being investigated in connection with a series of killings have that shaken up town residents, NBC4 in Washington is reporting.

Charles S. Severance, 53, was arrested as a fugitive in Wheeling, W. Va., on Thursday on a warrant for a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. He was captured Thursday at an Ohio County library.

Severance unsuccessfully ran for town mayor in 1996 and 2000.

Sources have told NBC4 that Severance is being looked at for the unsolved killings of three popular residents: music teacher Ruthanne Lodato last month, transportation executive Ronald Kirby in November, and real estate agent and wife of a former sheriff Nancy Dunning in 2003.

Police have said the killings may be connected and that bullets recovered from the crime scenes had similar characteristics. All three were killed or found dead near the front doors of their home, and the shootings all took place around 11:30 a.m.

Police have a composite sketch of the killer that looks similar to the mugshot taken of Severance. The killer was described as an older white male, balding with gray hair and full beard. He was wearing a tan coat at the time of the most recent attack last month.

Last month, 59-year-old music teacher Ruthanne Lodato was shot and killed after answering her door, just months after transportation executive Ron Kirby was found dead in the front of his house.

Dunning, wife of longtime Alexandria Sheriff James Dunning, was shot to death after returning from a shopping trip, where she had purchased Christmas gifts for a local charity.